Wednesday, March 10, 2010

MerchantCircle Confidence Index (MCI) Survey Results - Q1 2010

Below are the results of our second quarterly Merchant Confidence Index (MCI) survey, designed to track trends in local business sentiment over time. This survey was presented to a random sample of MerchantCircle members between February 9th and February 16th, 2010. 11,013 completed responses came in during this period and there were no incentives offered to complete the survey.

27.8% of local merchants surveyed said today's economy is "somewhat" or "significantly" improved

30.7% of local merchants surveyed said today's economy is "about the same"

41.5% of local merchants surveyed said today's economy is "somewhat" or "much" weaker

Sales revenue expectations: local merchants are optimistic

Nearly 50% of local merchants surveyed expect sales revenues to "somewhat" or "significantly" improve over the next three months. This represents a 23% increase over our Q4 2009 survey results (39.9% responded this way in Q4 2009)

17.3% of local merchants surveyed expect sales revenues to decline "somewhat" or "significantly".

Marketing expectations: investment expected to remain flat

46.3% of local merchants surveyed expect their marketing expenditures to remain flat over the next three months

3 comments:

Our business has declined in sales as the economy worsens. With more people losing homes, jobs and health care; With food and gas costs increasing, people are tightening their purse strings and holding on to their money as they squeek by. I do not believe the economy is improving at this moment. Gas is inching right back up to the $3.00 a gallon mark and it wouldn't surprise me if we see costs continue to skyrocket.